July 19, 2006

Viacom Cries Out For Onion

It almost
sounds like one of The Onion's made-up news items: Variety is reporting
— without even mentioning sources, much less identifying them — that Viacommay acquireThe Onion,
the satirical newspaper and Web site whose headlines made "Area Man"
into a minor celebrity. Other sources, including the Huffington Post,
Paidcontent.org and Gawker, have also reported on a potential
Viacom-Onion connection, even as they played up the speculative nature
of the story.

While a source tells DealBook that such a deal has indeed been discussed, it is in very early stages and may never happen.

At first blush, a free, fake newspaper may sound like an odd
acquisition for Viacom. But The Onion's ersatz news, while different in
tone from that offered by the Viacom-owned Comedy Central's "The Daily
Show" and "The Colbert Report," could conceivably fit in well with the
media giant's Web strategy.

Also, The Onion's A.V. Club, though largely unheralded, features
well-regarded (and totally serious) criticism of music, movies, books
and games. With the backing of Viacom, the A.V. Club's reviews could be
put in front of a lot more people and pose a challenge to more
traditional sources of arts criticism.

A Viacom spokeswoman told DealBook the company declined to comment.
A representative from The Onion was not immediately available Wednesday
for comment.

Comments

It almost
sounds like one of The Onion's made-up news items: Variety is reporting
— without even mentioning sources, much less identifying them — that Viacommay acquireThe Onion,
the satirical newspaper and Web site whose headlines made "Area Man"
into a minor celebrity. Other sources, including the Huffington Post,
Paidcontent.org and Gawker, have also reported on a potential
Viacom-Onion connection, even as they played up the speculative nature
of the story.

While a source tells DealBook that such a deal has indeed been discussed, it is in very early stages and may never happen.

At first blush, a free, fake newspaper may sound like an odd
acquisition for Viacom. But The Onion's ersatz news, while different in
tone from that offered by the Viacom-owned Comedy Central's "The Daily
Show" and "The Colbert Report," could conceivably fit in well with the
media giant's Web strategy.

Also, The Onion's A.V. Club, though largely unheralded, features
well-regarded (and totally serious) criticism of music, movies, books
and games. With the backing of Viacom, the A.V. Club's reviews could be
put in front of a lot more people and pose a challenge to more
traditional sources of arts criticism.

A Viacom spokeswoman told DealBook the company declined to comment.
A representative from The Onion was not immediately available Wednesday
for comment.